Tag: exercise Page 2 of 3

You’re slim, why count calories?

On December 6, 2018

Screenshot from 2018-12-06 09-50-44

People watch us. Over time they may be curious enough to ask some questions as to what makes you tick.

Most people in my acquaintance did not know me when I had a 38″+ waist and was around 230 pounds. When or if they hear I run a lot often the conversation turns to my habits. Some have found it strange that I track my calories after losing the weight so many years ago.

I do record my food, and my Garmin tools document my exercise. When I say I track my calories, it’s more superficial than scientific. I know folks who are into the macro-nutrients, proteins, carbs, various fat sources, etc. I think those are great, but they bore me to sleep.

I am in health-maintenance mode, where I want to remain healthy to do battle against the forces of time and environment. The better prepared the soldier, generally, the more success in fighting.

I saw a doctor posted an article on LinkedIn called “Health: One Measure to Rule Them All” where he explores so many elements of our healthy living. A few quotes from his article:

We do not routinely direct our collective will at the true, root causes of our decline.

Even despite the terrible toll of opioids, depression, despair, and suicide- diet is the single leading cause of premature death in America today.

Keep fighting the good fight!

Why run?

By Jerry Schotz

On November 15, 2018

In Blog

Photo by Snapwire on Pexels.com

I’ve had these questions asked in various ways.

Why do you run?
Why don’t you run races?

You know, there is this 5k here or this 10k there or this half-marathon, marathon, etc. Or the “you should” statements come out frequently along the same lines. Other questions that baffle the non-runners include:

Why would you run if no one is chasing you?
What is your motivation to run every day?

It’s sort of comical now after all these years and I usually answer with something like “running is my time,” “it’s what I like to do to stay healthy,” “I like to eat a lot.” These are all elements of running for me, but not all. There are books about getting in the “flow” when running and there are times I can relate to that, but most days, not so much.

I do find running provides health maintenance, but I’ve really come to the point where my morning is more of a meditation, learning, and me-time which I just happen to do while running 8+ miles. That 1.5-hour slot opens my day, and I would miss it terribly if I couldn’t exercise to start my day. The nice thing is I don’t hurt or have any real recovery time needed to do this routine.

I was reading today about folks who do like real runs and racing. I was reading about people who do 100-mile runs in 12+ hours. Wow, that pace and endurance must require a lot of training, and that’s cool for them. I do think about this kind of running from time to time, I’m just not sure that’s where I want my running to take me.

I do like to run in new places, new cities, parks, etc. When the surroundings are new, the miles seem to go by so quickly and with less effort.

My non-running exercise

By Jerry Schotz

On November 6, 2018

In Blog

As a runner, it sometimes seems easier just to run and not consider the rest of your muscles, but you need to strengthen other parts of your body to avoid injury and mobility/flexibility issues.

My morning routine includes stretching from top to bottom. This includes arms, back, and legs. If you’re looking for a great instructor on body mobility, I suggest you check out Jessica Valant Pilates, she is a great teacher that has a lot of freely available resources to get you started, plus, her subscription programs are reasonably priced.

Post stretching, I do 30-40 push-ups along with a few additional mat workouts. I follow the mat work with 100-120 situps on a bench (if available) or the mat.

IMAG0774

Other exercise outside of the morning routine includes walking, when time and the weather are cooperative, and light resistance training on my home gym.

My morning foods

By Jerry Schotz

On November 5, 2018

In Blog

First thing out of bed – an 8 oz glass of water. This seems to wake up the digestive tract a bit and hydrate after sleep.

My morning exercise routine burns over 1100 calories. I have to consider what the body and muscles need to perform while not eating too much or things that will hinder the exercise.

I’ve tried various fruits, drinks, and snack bars, but what I’ve settled on a regular basis is homemade no-bake energy-bites. You can find various recipes online, ours includes the following:

Kroger brand Dark Chocolate Chunks or Ghiradelli Dark Chocolate Chips
Coconut (unsweetened or sweetened, depending on your taste, I prefer unsweetened)
Vanilla
Peanut Butter
Honey
Oats (usually the quick cooking oats)
Flax seed

After my initial in-home exercises (I’ll talk about these in another post) and before my run, I consume another 8 oz glass of water and an energy-bite. I have found this is enough for about 6 miles without getting hunger pangs. Often the hunger pangs are noticeable around the 7-mile mark which I temper with water. When I get over 10 miles, the water is not enough to satisfy, but we can talk about that later as well.

Post-run I need to rehydrate with 12-16 ounces of water. The last few years I’ve included a super-food powder (currently this) in the water to help replenish the bodies needs. I’ll do a post about supplementals later.

I start my breakfast with a Smoothie. The content has varied, so I’ll share the basic ingredients I’m currently using.

1/2 c Unsweetened Almond Milk
3 T of some yogurt (light, vanilla, strawberry, greek or otherwise)
1 scoop of powdered beets
1 T of PB Fit
1 banana
A pinch of Walnuts or Pecans
A pinch of Virginia peanuts
A pinch of raisins or craisins
A pinch of frozen spinach
5-10 frozen blueberries
3-5 pieces of the frozen banana-strawberry mix

I mix this all up in my Ninja-mixer, and it’s like going to Dairy Queen every morning, without the mysterious junk, sugars, and fat.

Finally, I have a bowl of cereal. I have a few go-to combinations like plain shredded wheat mixed with Life (Kroger brand) cereal. The other regular mix is a little Kroger’s Musili with Multi-grain Cheerios. I use unsweetened almond milk in my cereal.

If I have time, I add a cup of hot tea to start the day.

With all the above, I’m usually around the 700 calorie restoration point.

A Garmin GPS Watch

By Jerry Schotz

On November 3, 2018

In Blog

A few years into my running, my adult kids purchased a GPS watch for Christmas 2015. The chart below is the stored running data (in miles) from the last few days of 2015 through October 2018.

Distance vs. Time Period

As of this post in early November 2018, Garmin has recorded 9,000.85 miles ran. Wow! In 4 months or so it will be over 10,000 miles logged! I’m guessing I’m already over that as there were three years before getting the GPS watch. LoseIt says I started with them in April 2012 and ended in October 2016 (I’ll explain in a different post). The LoseIt chart below reflects the calories burned per month, and I’ve consistently been over 25k per month since April 2014. The point being… blah-blah-blah… it’s over 10k miles. Sheesh, so wordy!

Screenshot from 2018-11-03 15-27-25

I have a Garmin Forerunner 10 which has held up very well. It’s not a fancy model, but it has been reliable. It doesn’t have Bluetooth, so I plug it into the USB cable each day when I return, it syncs up, and the battery is charged and waiting for me the next morning consistently. Thank you, Garmin!

I know people with fancier models that sync with your phone as they go, but I don’t see the need for the bells and whistles as this model does all I need. Keep it simple!